NEW YORK: US natural gas futures eased to a fresh 17-month low on Friday on forecasts for milder weather and lower heating demand next week than previously expected, allowing utilities to keep adding more gas to stockpiles than usual for at least a few more weeks.
Front-month gas futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.3 cents, or 0.5percent, to USD2.657 per million British thermal units, putting the contract on track for its lowest close since October 29, 2024.
That kept the front-month in technically oversold territory for a second day in a row, for the first time since December 2025.
For the week, the contract was on track to decline about 5percent after losing about 10percent last week. In the cash market, average prices at the Waha Hub in West Texas remained in negative territory for a record 45 straight days as pipeline constraints continued to trap gas in the Permian region, the nation’s biggest oil-producing shale basin.
Daily Waha prices first averaged below zero in 2019. They did so 17 times in 2019, six times in 2020, once in 2023, 49 times in 2024, 39 times in 2025, and a record 54 times so far this year.
Waha prices have averaged a negative USD1.41 per mmBtu so far in 2026, compared with a positive USD1.15 in 2025 and a positive USD2.88 over the past five years (2021-2025).
Financial firm LSEG said average gas output in the US Lower 48 states rose to 111.0 billion cubic feet per day so far in April, up from 110.4 bcfd in March. That compares with a monthly record high of 110.7 bcfd in December 2025.
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